FRESH GINGER TEA

I thought about sharing a decadent holiday recipe with you today. After all, this is the time of year for indulgences like Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups with Flaky Sea Salt, Bourbon Braised Short Ribs with Brown Sugar and Coffee, Parmesan Polenta with Garlicky Rapini and Black Olives, and Quick and Easy Peppermint Bark. In the midst of the abundance of decadent fare, I wanted to share something soothing, a simple tool to care for yourself and your loved ones this time of year. (Don't get me wrong, I'm a supporter of holiday indulgence. In fact, if these festive holiday recipes are what you're craving, my cookbook has all of these recipes and more.)

If you feel a little chilled, have a scratchy throat, or harbor a funky belly needing a break from holiday gluttony, nothing soothes like Fresh Ginger Tea with a heaping spoon of honey and a good squeeze of lemon. I'm guessing we could all use a simple treat for ourselves this time of year, an easy quiet moment to catch our breath in the midst of holiday shopping, parties, and crowds.

Happiest of holidays to you all!
xoxo
E

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounce nub of fresh ginger
• 4 cups water
• honey
• 1-2 lemons

Peel your ginger then give the peeled ginger a quick whack with a mallet or the flat side of a heavy chef's knife to crush the root a bit, which will allow the flavors to release more easily in the hot water.

Place the crushed ginger in a medium saute pan with 4 cups cool tap water. Bring the water to a boil, then partially cover the pot and reduce heat to achieve a gentle simmer. Set your timer for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes of simmering you should have a flavorful ginger tea that's strong enough to have a nice spicy kick at the back of throat. (If you like your tea even stronger, feel free to let it steep longer.)

Pour the hot tea through a strainer into individual tea cups. Add a heaping scoop of honey ( maybe even a tablespoon or so) to each cup along with the juice of half a lemon. Stir to blend all ingredients and taste for seasoning. Add a little more honey or lemon to your liking and if the tea is a bit strong for you, you can always add a splash of hot water.

Whatever tea you don't drink right away can be stored in a jar in the fridge. I suggest storing strained ginger tea without the honey and lemon added. When you reheat the tea, add the honey and lemon just before serving.

Serves 2-3

GILI ISLAND DELIGHT

The Gilis Islands are a dreamy paradise, just a boat ride away from Bali. On this little Indonesian archipelago, there is not a motorized vehicle in sight, only cidomo - funky horse-drawn buggies.  Yes, on Gili Trawangan you can find backpackers smoking weed, flirting, and hanging out. Or like us, you can escape to the sleepy side of the island where there is nothing to do but snorkel with sea turtles, read novels, have bonfires on the beach, and watch epic sunsets. I think Gili T is my new happy place.

I've noticed that travel to remote spots often means sacrificing good eats. But at the whitewashed and stylish Gili Eco Villas, we lucked out with a gem of a cook - Pip a la Supiana, whose food wasn't just decent island fare, it was fantastic. Pip has that magic touch: with simplicity, respect of ingredients, love, and the subtlety of perfect preparation that looks effortless. Everything Pip makes is full of freshness and flavor. My kind of food. (2012: An update on Pip.... sadly, he is no longer at Gili Eco Villas.)

Pip let me join him in his kitchen one afternoon and I had so much fun.  We made fragrant yellow rice, prawn skewers on lemongrass, and this delectable squid dish. One of the best things about cooking with Pip was learning more about his palate of spices that are so different from my typical pantry staples. In my Berkeley kitchen, I tend to favor garlic, rosemary, parsley, thyme, lemon, and mint - where Pip tosses in lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, sesame, chilies, lots of lime, and honey. There is no reason why the rest of us cannot try to cook like Pip: all of his "exotic" ingredients are actually easy to find. I know I will take his cooking home with me to California.

I so enjoyed eating Pip's squid that I ordered it every night we stayed in the Gilis. I won't have the opportunity to cook this squid dish myself until we are back in California later this summer, but I couldn't wait that long to share Pip's recipe with you.

I can imagine 10 years from now coming back to Indonesia and finding Pip with a slew of successful restaurants of his own. He is that good.



PIP'S GILI ISLAND SQUID
(printable recipe)

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 teaspoon peeled and chopped fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
• 1/2 lime
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 large pieces of squid
• 1- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 more lime

For the Sauce:

• 1 teaspoon peeled and finely chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped spring onion
• 1 teaspoon peeled and finely chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped chilies (green and or red chilies of your choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• garnish: sprinkling of sesame seeds

Grind garlic, ginger, and sea salt in a mortar and pestle until you have a well-blended paste. Transfer this mixture to a bowl large enough to marinate the squid. Add juice of 1/2 lime and toss the already squeezed lime into the bowl. (I love that Peep puts already juiced citrus into the marinade - a rustic alternative to adding zest.)  Add the olive oil. Stir the marinade and set aside.

Cut squid tubes open so that you have large flat pieces. Cut squid into smaller pieces (maybe 2x4 inches each) then score the squid by making shallow cuts in a grid-like pattern. Add squid to the marinade bowl, and rub marinade all over the squid especially into the scored grooves. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Chop and prep all ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.

After the squid has marinated for an hour or so, heat up a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon or two of sesame oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the squid. Squeeze in the juice of another lime over the top of the squid while it is cooking. Cook squid pieces for a few minutes on each side until done. ( I would love to try cooking this squid on our grill at home. I think the smokey flavor would be delish.)

Set aside the cooked squid. Toss all of the sauce ingredients into the already hot pan that still has the cooking juices from the squid. Stir sauce and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the flavors are released. Pour sauce over the squid, sprinkle sesame seeds over the top and serve. Yum!

LEMONGRASS + GINGER GRANITA

Happy Mother's Day to all my favorite mamas out there, and especially to my own mom!

There are no Hallmark Cards or tear-jerking commercials to remind the Balinese that this is a day to celebrate mothers - I can only imagine how completely strange they would find this entire holiday. In Bali there are daily rituals and countless elaborate ceremonies to honor ancestors, nature, and spirits, but no Mother's Day. I am not complaining. In so many ways, the past eight months of travel have felt like one long Mother's Day for me; all this family time has been a dream, and every day I am grateful to be Otis and Lilah's mom. Okay, now I'm getting all sappy on you!

Let's get to a recipe that is easy enough for kids to make for/or with their moms....

Granitas make me happy - I love recipes that leave room for improvisation while still being reliable in their deliciousness. P, the kids, and I are devotees of this always-refreshing and easy-to-make dessert.

Since we hit the road last August and haven't always had the best equipped kitchens, granitas have become our favorite after dinner treat: we made ruby red grapefruit in Northern Australia; pineapple in Fiji; elderflower in New Zealand; and now, lemongrass granita here in Bali. Always curious to see food at its source, P and I took a shady walk along the rice fields just north of Ubud to visit Mr. Nomad's organic veggie farm. There was plenty of lemongrass sprouting and P remarked that maybe we could try growing this fragrant herb at home in Berkeley this fall.

Continuing our granita making tradition, I wonder what flavor we will make next month in Corfu when celebrate Abby's birthday. What delights will a Greek Island farmer's market have in June? I cannot wait to find out.

Note: Be sure to make your granita at least a few hours before you want to serve it. The freezing process takes a while.

RUBY RED GRAPEFRUIT & GINGER GRANITA

I miss my kitchen. During the past five weeks, we have eaten in more restaurants than I can count, and for the most part the food has been really tasty. Having meals cooked for me day after day is an indulgence I haven’t had experienced in years. That said, from time to time I long for my home kitchen with all of its familiar tools, counter tops.....

Last week, we had an apartment with a real kitchen and ample equipment to make our own meals. After a little sleuthing, I tracked down the one and only organic market in Darwin, Australia - not a town known for its cuisine. Though during our stay in the Northern Territory, we did try baramundi, kangaroo, and termite mound (yes termite mound!). 

Greenies is hidden deep in a rundown strip mall, ghostly with its many vacancies. The shop is no cartoonishly abundant Bay Area market, yet Greenies had everything we were looking for - life, good music, and happy hippie foods. Rushing back to our pad, we roasted chicken in our familiar way, tossed together a Berkeley-style salad with plenty of avocado and arugula, and ate kilos of strange exotic fruits.



Darwin is damned hot - over 100 degrees every day we were there, and this wasn’t even the hot time of year. I needed the satisfaction of making a refreshing treat for my travelin’ clan. After spending a month in Bali indulging with decadent abandon in fresh fruit juices, lassies, and slushies, I felt inspired to make my own fruity concoction. It was devoured in minutes - a success!

The candied ginger, though not necessary, was delicious with the granita. Next time I’d like to make my own.

Spicy carrot soup with coconut, lime, and young ginger

Peering in my post-Thanksgiving fridge, I found an abundance of carrots and plenty of luscious turkey broth (made by Paul) and felt compelled to make carrot soup. I am a sucker for creamy pureed veggie soups and love to eat them all winter long. Usually I make a nice big pot to freeze for later meals.

I must admit that I winged it on this recipe, using flavors that sounded yummy with the carrots. Carrots can be a little boring, but using both coconut oil and coconut milk gave the soup a lovely creaminess, while the lime, ginger, and cayenne added a nice kick.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons raw organic coconut oil
• 1 whole yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 1-2 teaspoons young ginger, minced
• 6 cups carrot, roughly chopped
• 3-4 cups homemade broth
• 13 oz coconut milk
• salt to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste
• juice to two limes
• a few sprigs of fresh cilantro
  

Melt coconut oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and ginger. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add carrots, and cook covered for 10-15 minutes until carrots begin to soften. Add broth, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 10-15 more minutes. Add coconut milk. Cook a bit longer until carrots are done. Then add lime juice, and salt, pepper and cayenne to your liking. (I put in 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne and the soup was really spicy.) Puree and you are ready to eat. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

We ate this soup with simple quesadillas topped with chopped avocado, lime, salt, and cilantro.

Pear Jam with Ginger

My mother-in-law lives out by the beach, and she has a neighbor with a very happy pear tree. "You should come out and pick some pears, you guys. They are delicious." So she kept telling us for few weeks. Free pears, picked ourselves... sounds like another jamming opportunity. Out we go, with my copy of Christine Ferber's jam book, and a box full of half-pint jars and lids. With the pears safely in hand, it was time to chose some recipes. I decided to make two different jams, and I will share the first today.


Ingredients

2 3/4 pounds pears
1 3/4 cups agave nectar (or 2 3/4 cups of sugar)
7 oz local honey (I used some made by hard-working Sacramento Delta bees)
Juice of one small Meyer lemon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons pectin (I use Pomona's Universal)
2-3 tablespoons sugar (to use as a mixer for the pectin powder)



Prepare the pears by peeling, coring, and removing their stems. To core them, I sliced them into quarters and quickly cut out the core, seeds and all. Next slice each quarter thinly, against the grain, making short rather than long slices. In your cooking pot, combine the pears, agave, honey, lemon juice, and grated ginger. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Turn off the heat and pour the sweet goodness into a bowl. Cover with parchment paper and put in the refrigerator overnight.
Next day, pour the mixture back into your cooking pot, and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the pectin, mixed with a few tablespoons of sugar, to keep it from staying chunky in the jam. Bring your jam back to a boil and cook it on high heat for about 5 minutes. Remember, you want the jam to reach 221 degrees to insure a nice set. Feel free to skim off any unsightly foam from the top of the jam. If you do, return the jam to a boil before carefully pouring the jam into your jars. This recipe should produce about 3 pints of jam.
As you can see from the photo above, we are enjoying the jam with warm biscuits (gluten-free, of course) right out of the oven.